London/Cox’s Bazar: UN chief Antonia Guterres on Sunday warned Myanmar’s de facto leader Aung San Suu that this was her “last chance” to halt the violence against Rohingya muslims. Mr Guterres told the BBC that unless she acted now, “the tragedy will be absolutely horrible”.
“If she does not reverse the situation now, then I think the tragedy will be absolutely horrible, and unfortunately then I don’t see how this can be reversed in the future,” he told BBC. He said the thousands of Rohingyas who have fled to Bangladesh to escape the violence should be allowed to return home.
Mr Guterres said it was clear that Myanmar's military “still have the upper hand” in the country and is putting pressure “to do what is being done on the ground” in Rakhine.
The UN has said 4,09,000 Rohingyas have now overwhelmed Cox’s Bazar since August 25 when the Myanmar military launched operations in Rakhine state.
On Sunday, Myanmar hinted that it may not take back Rohingyas who fled across the border, accusing them of having links to the militants. “Those who fled the villages made their way to the other country for fear of being arrested as they got involved in the attacks. Legal protection will be given to the villages whose residents did not flee,” the government’s Information Committee statement said.
Bangladeshi is trying to restrict the movement of the Rohingya refugees into crowded border camps and have started immunising tens of thousands of children against diseases.
Abdus Salam, a doctor in a state-run hospital in Cox’s Bazar, said over 1,50,000 children will be immunised over seven days for measles, rubella and polio.
